Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, with the exception of Shane. I own nada, except for Shane. I don't own Hyrule, only Shane.
First and Foremost
by Cappucinno
CHAPTER THREE: KEEP IT TOGETHER
December 15, 2016—11:30 a.m.
The Old Apartment
"Link?" Shane knocked impatiently on the door of his friend's apartment, a bag of take-out from Uncle Bill's Pancake House dangling from his hand. There was no response. "Link!"
The dark blonde haired young man was sprawled across the threadbare plaid-print couch, cobalt eyes shadowed by a telling gray. Link focused on the television, his cheek pressed against the crook of his elbow as he watched some cooking show special. As another bout of rather violent knocking started up the dishwater-blonde cast a listless look at the door before turning back to his television set.
Rachel Ray was in the process of educating him on how to make strawberry blintzes. Not that Link even knew what those were.
"Link!" Shane called again from outside, and Link swore he heard the wood of his door groan under the pressure. "I know you're in there!"
Link sighed as he sat half-way up, glowering at the shaking door. He could hear his friend's angry cussing and shouting and the blonde rolled his eyes as he cast the blanket off of his lap, tossing it haphazardly over the back of the couch.
He all but stalked over to the door and deftly undid the locks, not even bothering to cover up his irritation at having been bothered. He pulled the door open rather violently, not even noticing as it flew backwards into the wall, the white-board that had been dangling from the handle falling to the ground as he did so.
"What?" He snapped, brows drawn together in a dark scowl. Shane immediately held his hands up in surrender, a broad grin spreading across his face.
"Uh, hey buddy." The blonde's cheerful expression wavered at Link's continued scowl and he tried again, holding up the bag of take-out. "Waffles and turkey patties? I brought the salsa that—oh. Well, she's not here anymore so… never mind."
They both winced at that, Link's scowl immediately falling as his blue eyes flickered rather guiltily to the floor. There was silence in the apartment. The two men stood awkwardly, Link absently scratching at the back of his head.
"Sorry, uh. I'll go clear some counter space, or something." Link said, gesturing his friend inside as he turned and vanished into the humble kitchen on what had formerly been his and Zelda's apartment.
Shane closed the door awkwardly, suddenly aware that everything in the house was completely and utterly silent. Sure, the television was on, blathering on about some ProActiv shit, and Link was rustling around in the kitchen, but there was something missing.
It was devoid of the usual chatter, the screaming over video-games, the hum of the dishwasher, the loud music that served as the 'battle theme' of some fighter game because Zelda hated it. The silence was astonishing, unusual, and unwelcome.
Shane had never been much of a dramatic kind of guy, but even he could sense the huge void that had been left in Zelda's absence. It was just little things that they had always taken for granted, little thing they thought no one could miss.
Well, they'd been wrong. Or at least, Shane had been wrong. Link had always seemed to instinctively know that without Zelda, life would be different. Different in the empty, miserable, depressed sense.
"Shane?" Link raised a brow at his friend, gesturing to the newly cleared counter space. Shane started slightly, before laughing easily and settling the take-out down on the space.
The blonde raised a brow as Link fetched a few plates and then seated himself on the barstool, setting his paper plate down on the newspaper that covered the bar area. Shane settled down beside his friend, casting a puzzled glance at the barren and pristine dining table sitting out in the other room.
It looked suspiciously like a layer of dust had settled over it.
"Link, bud?" Said male looked up from his task of distributing the waffles, one golden brow raised in question. "Is there a, uh, reason that we're not using the dining table?"
He was met with a rather irritated expression and Link turned his attention back to his food, spearing a waffle rather viciously with his fork and all but slamming it down onto his plate. "Not my table." Link eventually said, uncomfortable with the silence that his lack of response had left them in.
"Oh, it's Zel's? Do you want me to go drop it off or someth-"
"No." Shane was taken aback by the growl in Link's voice and he settled uncomfortably back on his chair.
"Sorry, didn't think it was a sore subject." He was met with more silence as his sullen companion prodded a turkey patty and Shane thought, not for the first time, how quiet things were without Zelda there. The two men picked at their meal in the newfound silence, broken only by the cheery voice of Rachel Ray going on about strawberry sauce.
"Link?" No response, Link's eyes were on the television, but Shane knew he was listening. "Is there a reason we're watching a chick's channel?"
"Shane. Shut up. You're ruining the tradition." Link was still focused on the television set as he ate, chewing idly on a chunk of his waffle.
"Tradition?" Shane raised a brow and rolled his eyes as Link gave him a pointed look for chewing with his mouth open. Honestly, Link had been hanging around Zelda for way too long.
"Zelda and I always watch Food Network on Saturday mornings, because all of the cartoons on T.V. are lame." Link explained, oblivious to his friend's heavy sigh and slouching shoulders.
"So, what, is Zelda out there on Castle Street watching T.V. with you in spirit?"
There was heavy silence that filled the room and Shane immediately wished that he could have taken the words back. Link set his fork down, some foreign feeling that Shane couldn't identify flickering through his eyes.
"Link?" There was no response as the male retreated into the kitchen. Shane heard the faint clanging of dishes and winced, guiltily trailing after his friend.
He found Link standing by the counter, gripping the counter so tightly that his knuckles that turned white. His face was tight, blue eyes focused on the coffee machine. If Shane looked closely he could tell his friend was shaking, but only because the faint movement of Link's leg gave him away.
"Link, man." He addressed, sighing as his friend's gaze remained rooted to the coffee machine. "Hey, I'm sorry. That was dumb of me, okay?"
There was another void of silence broken by Link's sharp intake of breath. The dark-blonde haired man reached for a coffee mug on the counter hands shaking almost imperceptively as, like clockwork, the coffeemaker chimed and Link poured himself a cup of coffee. The mug's counterpart sat, untouched, next to the coffee machine, filled to the brim with old coffee.
Instinctively Link reached up to the cupboard and pulled out another cup of coffee. There was a pause as he did so and he turned, as if just realizing that Shane was still there. He flashed a smile, an empty strained one, and sat the mug on the counter, filling it with fresh coffee.
Shane belatedly realized that even if he hadn't been there, Link still would've poured that extra cup of coffee. The typically optimistic young man took the cup of coffee from his friend and sipped at the hot liquid, leaning back against the counter as he did so. His normally vivid aqua eyes had dulled as he met the sullen cobalt eyes of his long-time friend.
"Things aren't the same anymore, are they?" He asked, a bitter breath of laughter following the words. Link exhaled a sigh as he warmed his hands on the cup of coffee. After another period of pregnant silence the wolfish blonde looked up, another hollow grin revealing a dimple in his cheek.
"We can just pretend that she's still asleep in the back room, right?"
Shane's eyes fell to the blanket on his couch and he felt his heart drop a little at that realization. Link couldn't bring himself to sleep in the bed anymore either.
"Din," Shane exhaled, only just noticing the dark rings beneath Link's eyes. "What a mess."
Link's lips curled up into a bittersweet smile. "Thursday's cleaning day."
December 25, 904
Unknown location
"How 'bout a kiss for luck, princess?" Link asked, a boyish grin lighting up his face as he leaned in close, trapping Zelda between the wall and his own body.
"Are you kidding me?" Zelda said in an exasperated manner, desperately fighting back the blush that threatened to take over her face. She was rewarded with only a grin as Link leaned further down, one strong hand lifting her chin up to meet him.
"Aw, c'mon princess." He whispered, his lips hardly grazing hers, looking all too satisfied as Zelda gasped beneath him.
"Link," She murmured, eyes falling closed as his mouth melded against her own, his hands reaching back to grip her hair, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.
"Link!" A gruff voice called and the couple abruptly parted, Link glowering at the entrance of the cave. After a moment he sighed, placing a chaste kiss against Zelda's lips as he stepped back.
"Guess that's my cue, huh?" The hero said, smiling apologetically. He turned to go, stopping and turning back with a curious look as Zelda's hand grasped his own. "Zel?"
"Link, I—" She cut herself off, and shook her head. "Never mind. Come back safe, okay?"
"I promise." He flashed her one of his famous grins and waved cheerily as he jogged out of the cave. Zelda was left with only the echo of his boots to keep her company and she sighed, collapsing into a sitting position on the floor of the cave.
That day was the first time that Link had ever broken a promise. He didn't come back safely. In fact, he didn't come back at all.
It had been weeks before they'd found his body cut to ribbons in the river.
December 15, 2016—5:30 a.m.
1904 Castle Street
Zelda awoke with a gasp, jerking into a sitting position. She was breathing hard, covered in a cold sweat. The blonde squeezed her eyes shut moving her hands to cover her face as she choked back a loud sob. The images flashed through her mind, meeting Link in a courtyard, Link gone for seven agonizing years, helping Link, saving Link, fighting with Link, losing Link, sending Link back in time, dancing with Link in a moonlit courtyard, Link on the ground—not breathing, Link covered in blood, Link with a sword shoved through his chest, Link's brilliant blue eyes open staring at nothing—
"Zelda!" The voice of her companion was commanding and she felt a compulsion to listen, shuddering sobs still wracking her frame. "Zelda, calm down."
"Sheik, please, I can't—" Her voice was hoarse, worried, frantic and Sheik had to struggle to fight back the waves of panic that gripped his heart. Zelda clutched his shirt as he moved to her bedside from his vigil, arms encircling the young woman as she shook and sobbed against him. "Oh, Sheik, it hurts so much."
Sheik rubbed her back in a soothing motion, blood red eyes fastened to the wall as he gently 'shushed' the young princess. Things were getting worse with time, no matter how hard Zelda fought against it. Before her visions—dreams, as he'd tried to them—had come only on occasion, scattered over the years.
But now, without her hero to stabilize her she was wracked by her visions nearly every night. Zelda sobbed again and Sheik held her a little closer, whispering faint words of comfort that did nothing for the princess.
Every night it was the same now, and only when he forced her to take her sleeping pills did the princess ever sleep peacefully. And even then he could see her pain, waking up and instinctively reaching for a warmth and comfort that wasn't there. It was difficult for the old young man to watch because this was fate.
Link and Zelda could never be together. It was written in the sands of destiny itself. It was cruel to bring them together because inevitably, due to factors that they could hardly control, their souls would call to each other. They would always find each other, the Princess and Hero, no matter what time or circumstance. And they would always be torn apart.
Except this, watching his Zelda and his Link, was harder than anything he'd ever had to do before. Because this pair was different. They hadn't been brought together. They had been born far away from one another, Zelda had been betrothed already, Link had a life that wasn't dedicated to protecting her, and yet they had all but dragged themselves together, fighting each and every factor that came against them.
Their bond was their own. It wasn't that of the Princess and her Hero. It was merely a very mortal Zelda Harkinian and ordinary Link Ordon that had forged a bond of their own. A bond of friendship so pure and so strong that he'd dared to hope, for an instant, that this generation had been skipped.
But then it began, as he'd known it would and prayed it wouldn't.
Zelda was tortured by visions of his death and agony, the pain that the Princess and her Hero had been through over the millennia, the pain of Link—and all inevitably caused by herself. And so she had done what she thought would protect him. She had left.
Perhaps things would be different this time, Sheik desperately hoped as Zelda's sobbed quieted and she was reduced to gentle shaking. Perhaps this was their trial, this was what would've torn them apart, and perhaps he could still fix this.
Maybe he should stop lying; maybe Zelda's instincts would save them all. Perhaps they could still be together. Or perhaps they wouldn't have to be together at all.
Sheik was all too aware that that would be too idealistic, too perfect to happen. Things were different this time, yes. But only because Zelda had separated them first. Regardless, the trial that they would've faced together would come. Except they would have to face it all alone.
Sheik's heart shed a tear in sympathy for the cruelty of their fate.
February 8, 2010—6:05 p.m.
Beyond Bizarre Bakery
Link was honestly a little bit worried when six o'clock rolled around and his favorite customer was still mysteriously absent. The blonde fidgeted in a decidedly uncharacteristic manner, waiting patiently at the cash-register for the blonde to appear. He was sporting a rather nasty black eye, not that he could remember why, and he'd awoken to find a thoroughly upset Zelda Harkinian beneath him.
He'd been hopeful for about five seconds before he heard her sigh of relief, following by an,"Oh, thank God!" And then he'd had an elbow slammed into his face.
Apparently Zelda Harkinian wouldn't lower herself to striking a sleeping man, though she had no problems about beating a hung-over and decidedly half-awake one. Some morning that had been. She hadn't stopped complaining all morning whilst she forced him to cover his torso with a towel as she waited for his shirt to dry. He'd been shirtless all night; apparently, because Shane had spilled beer all over him and dumped him at Zelda's when he lost track of Link's actual roommate.
And apparently Zelda had issues with his chest.
There was something about torture that she kept mumbling about, but Link was pretty certain he hadn't tried to pull anything on the young woman. Hell, all he could remember was waking up on top of her.
Which would've been a great thing under any other circumstances.
He wasn't sure who had dumped him off at the moody-but-decidedly-sexy blonde's apartment when they'd failed to find his roommate, but he made a mental note to kick their asses later.
When Zelda walked in, finally, Link was instantly relieved. Because the little spitfire of a blonde that he'd grown so fond of actually came back. There was just something about her that made Link instinctively want to talk to her—or piss her off. And he knew that she felt it too, because she'd been coming in every day since
Even if she was looking even moodier than usual and glowering at him as she crossed her arms and ordered a roll of rosemary bread.
In fact, Link was so relieved that he didn't even feel the need to tease her or piss her off. Or maybe that was just the guilt talking. As they exchanged the bread and money respectively Zelda stood there, still glowering in that not-so-cute manner that she always did.
"You're bruised." She said in a monotone that Link didn't even mind.
"Yeah."
He knew he looked like an idiot, standing there grinning, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Zelda had come back. This Monday marked the second week he would spend staring desperately at the clock, waiting for her to come in.
"I'm not sorry." She said, lips pursed and eyebrows drawn into a furrow, even as the tiniest hint of pink crossed her cheeks. A very guilty blush. There was a tentative silence and then she actually managed to meet his gaze.
Her cheeks turned a bright flaming red. That was a curious new development.
"…What the hell were you guys celebrating, anyways?" Zelda asked, and it was Link's turn to look guilty, though he wasn't blushing. Because guys didn't blush.
"Umm," He scratched the back of his head, not quite bringing himself to meet Zelda's suddenly forceful glare. Sexy, but scary as hell. "Well, Shane got a new car so…"
When Zelda turned on her heel and marched off Link looked after her in a distressed manner. Maybe she wasn't going to come back again after all.
But she did.
December 15, 2016—10:23 p.m.
The Old Apartment
Link was slumped over the couch again, half-buried underneath the navy blue fleece blanket that he'd dragged out of the closet earlier that day. His face was once more pushed into his arm—consequentially a make-shift pillow—feet dangling off the edge of the sofa. The television was on, the screen showing off the wicked awesome graphics of Devil May Cry 4.
He had tried to ignore the fact that his X-box controller was far larger than Zelda's wireless PlayStation 3 controller. He also tried to ignore the fact that kicking ass with Nero wasn't nearly as fun without Zelda screaming obscenities and cursing at the television set every time he one-upped her level scores, neatly re-setting her 'S' scores to 'SSS'.
The blonde sighed, propping himself up on his elbow as he was forced to watch a particularly cheesy cutscene. Nero was beating a hole into the ground, screaming after Kirie, his lover/honorary-sister?
Nero was none-too-kindly drowned out by the screaming of his cell phone and Link sighed, hitting the pause button. He cursed as the blankets twisted around him, successfully bringing him down to the ground.
"Shit. Hey Zel, can you get that for me?" He was met with silence as he grappled with his blankets, waiting for the screaming of his cell phone to stop. As he managed to detach himself from the blankets his cell phone was silenced and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Zel, who was it?" Silence.
The blonde frowned, making his way slowly into their bedroom. His slim silver phone was lying innocently on the bed and he picked it up, absentmindedly flipping it open as he crossed the room to the balcony, searching his blonde-haired best friend.
"Zelda?" There was the tiniest flare of panic in his chest as he was met with silence. "Zelda?"
His phone sprang back to life and Link looked down at the screen. He felt his heart stop as he read the cheerful display, '1 New Voicemail!'. The blonde fell onto the bed, cobalt eyes glued to the screen of the phone.
Somewhere in the background battle music had started up again, but somehow Link knew that it wasn't because his best friend had taken over playing in a fit of wounded female pride. He'd probably just dropped it during his struggles with the blankets.
"Zelda," He breathed, cobalt eyes sliding shut as that all-too familiar feeling of emptiness consumed him again. Link allowed his body to flop back bonelessly onto the bed, inhaling that soothing scent of peppermint that Zelda had been so fond of.
She'd always stocked up on bottles of the peppermint lotion at Christmastime, spouting some nonsense about it being 'soothing'. He hadn't thought that he'd ever agree with her, but Zelda had a habit of constantly proving him wrong.
He hadn't heard from his best friend since the day that she'd mysteriously vanished on him. He had known that there was something wrong with his best friend, sobbing fits in the middle of the night that had left him worried and confused, and he'd tried to give her space. Her belongings were all gone, but Link had still held on to that thin strand of hope.
She'd come back. She had to come back to him eventually.
But she hadn't called him, not even once, and every time he'd gone to knock on the door of her new house the door had remained locked and everything had been eerily quiet. There was no sign of her laughter, no screaming at the television, no singing in the kitchen. In fact, Link could have sworn that he'd heard the sound of someone sobbing the last time he'd gone to her new home.
And for some reason the thought of Zelda suffering alone brought a lance of pain straight through his heart. He didn't know what to do without Zelda. But he went through the motions.
Link peeled his cobalt eyes back open, staring listlessly at the ceiling as he mechanically brought his cell phone to his ear, pressing the 'call' button. For a moment there was silence, but then Link felt his heart skip a few beats as a female voice filled his ears.
"Hey, Link." Zelda? Link's heart fell once again as he realized that his caller was not Zelda. "It's Malon. I was just wondering if you were still up. Well, I know you are. It's Saturday, game night, right? Hey, would you meet me tonight at Oak's Bar and Grill? I need to talk to you. Hope to see you there."
He hit the 'end' button, letting his arm drop back down onto the bed. Link sighed as he looked over at the clock which declared it to be a quarter before eleven. For a moment he was still before his eyes went wide and he sprang out of bed, hurriedly searching through his closet for his favorite gray sweater.
Malon was one of Zelda's friends. She, of all people, would know what the blonde was up to.
A/N: This update came quickly, didn't it? I'm pretty proud of myself. I wouldn't get used to these super fast updates though, as I don't have anything written up for about another two chapters. In case any of you were wondering, the second flashback, centered in 2010, was Link and Zelda from their college days. Consequentially, Beyond Bizarre Bakery and that entire scene were taken from another story of mine that I've just recently posted called The Days in February, another modern-day Link and Zelda fic. Except February is much fluffier and far more humorous as opposed to dark, as this story is. I hope you enjoyed this update!
reviewpuh-leaseIluffyew?
-Cappucinno